Apparatus for feeding cut tobacco



Jan. 9, 1945. F. F. RUAU APPARATUS 'FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO Filed July 17, 1'942 E f ,i

Patented Jan. 9, 1945 ANI'flf-Erl) STATES PAT EN YOF'FICE APPARA'rUsiFonF-EEDmG CUT1 TOBACCO- Flix `rralriefman,Deptford, Lemon, England,

assigner to `Molins, Machine Company, Limited, Deptford,'LondolnlEngland l yApplication July 17, 1942,1Serial bla-451,339 ilmGreatlBritain .I111y2'2,;1941 f (omai-rom This invention yconcerns improvements 4`or relating to apparatus for 'feedingfrcu-t tobacco, for "example, apparatusfor feeding cut tobacco .tof'cigarette making orltobaccofpacking machines of v'the -kind in which amass o'f Vcut'toba'c'co is placed 1in ahopper 'orbox from *which` it is removedl'by ra fcar'cled conveyor or combing member such as a carded roller for '-a carded belt (and hereinafter called v-a combingvmember and in which a'ifeeding device is provided' tourge'the tobacco towards suchvcardedmernber. Such apparatus Tis referred Vto fhereinafter Aasapparatus o'f the kind described. f

,As lis well known, out tobacco contains numerous short -fragments of leaf lwhich are included iin the trade term shorts In manipulating and feeding Ycut tobacco, ltheseshorts tend to fall away `from the `main tobacco vmassfand lt is important for "commercial-'reasonsthat they should be incorporated Within -the -finishedproductlof fthe machine.

i.iccording Ito lthe present yinvention' there vis provided apparatus o'f the kind'described wherein `the Asaid lfeeding device lcomprises a carded feederdisposed lwithin the hopper/at a suitable distance aboveA the rbase `ofthe v`hopper -and arranged to permitshor'ts v,to fall therethrough on to lsaid base vwhich comprises a shaking or vibrating plate conveyor adaptedtourgerthe Shorts towards said carded combing member. 'Preferably the feeder consists of a number o'f `carded rollers mounted. for rotation in .thesame direction. The upper surfaces rofthe rollers are preferably tangential Lto va straight line whichfslopes downwards towards the combing Vmember Vand the `rollers are so .disposed vthat their carding intermeshes .and .prei'fentslany` appreciableguan- Y tity-of tobacco, other than shorts, `from falling panying drawing which shows apparatus for' feeding' .cut .tobacco vvto a .cigarette making rmachine.

Referring to'. the drawing, the tobacco #is-placed in acontainer I l adjacent Ato ithe hopper *2' ofthe tobacco'feedin'g apparatus and an oscillatingtiiap provided 1 (suchfas is described in prior .United States patent-specificationNo. 1,955,012) which flap periodically/sweeps tobacco into .the yhopper and then vrecedes to permit the surplusltobacco tov pass back into theacontainen `If desired, the masses yof tobacco in the container'andthellopperLare kept. separate'. by :la wvaned rotating `mem- ,ber 23 positionedintermediate the containerfand hopper.

The ibase :of `the hopper` consists of l a plate f4, constituting k.part of a :shaking `or 'vibratingrconveyor, lwhich slopes downwardly towardsy a: carded combing .member 5. "which in'thepresent instant consists of :a card'edcombing 'roller'. This base plate rextends'fromthe vcontainer to the combing roller and Aabove it `there is mounted a carded feedingdevice which forms afalsebottom to the hopper rand vextends from fthe container .to fa positiona few inches away fromthe combing roller. The carded feeding device shown 'comprises ve carded'rollers 2|9 of equal diameter. They .are,.journal1ed for rotation in the :hopper frames :andi-arranged .with `their 4carding lintermeshing to form lthe false bottom above mentioned. .The :rollers 'are also so arranged that their 4upper-surfaces are tangential to :a straight line parallel to thedownwardlyvsloping conveyor plate #4 which constitutes'fthetrue bottom of 'the hopper.

The carded rollers which all .rotate in `the same l:direction urge 'the'tobacco mass I towards the combing roller and duringthis feeding movement'shorts'drop through the intermeshing carding on `to vthe conveyor plate. In *the space betweenthe combing'roller and the nearest carded feeding roller-the tobacco mass yis `raised upby the [movement of the carding of the combing rolleraand onlylshorts and kperhaps a few strands of tobacco fall down on to the conveyor plate.

The conveyorplate is attached to'two support members 1-6v which project downwardly lfrom the lowerlsurface oflthe'plate. These members may be pivoted levers but are preferably, andl as Owing to the sloping disposition of the plate and the arrangement of the springs the top surface of the plate moves upwardly on the forward movement of the plate, thereby feeding the shorts to the combing roller.

In this way the shorts are removed by the carding of the combing roller and become fairly evenly mixed with the other tobacco which is later removed from the hopper by the carding of the combing roller as above described.

Beneath the conveyor plate there is fixed a bearing bracket 8 to which is pivoted one end of a` connecting rod 9, the other end-of said rod comprising an eccentric strap I which embracesl an eccentric II mounted on a shaft I2 journalled in the hopper frames. the driving mechanism of the tobacco feeding apparatus at such a rate that the plate of the shaking conveyor will be oscillated or vibrated a considerable -number of times per minute (for example 1,000 to 1,200 times per minute). The total movement or oscillation of the conveyor plate may be 1A; of an inch. The drive to the shaft I2 may be by chain or belt, for example, from a picker roller I6 as shown in the drawing.

Beneath the combing `roller there is mounted a shield I3 concentric with the periphery of said roller and which extends through an arc o-f about 90. One end of said shield is so positioned that the forward edge of the conveyor plate slightly overhangs the shield, thus preventing the escape of any tobacco or shorts from between the combing roller and the edge of the plate.

The combing roller thereafter conveys the tobacco, fed to it as above described, forwardly and upwardly in such manner that the tobacco is arranged over the surface of the combing roller in the form of a rough carpet. The tobacco may then be treated in any desired manner.

As shown, by way of example, the tobacco on the combing roller is operated on by a tamping device I4 which` works in the manner described in United States patent specication No. 1,962,- 036. The tobacco is then brushed by a brushing roller I5 and removed from the combing roller by a picker roller I6 and showered on to a distributor l1 from which it is delivered into the trough of the cigarette making machine in any suitable manner. l Or the feeding apparatus may be constructed as described in United States Patent 2,326,793, granted August 17, 1943, to which reference should be made.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged to permit shorts to fall therethrough, and a vibrating conveyor disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and to urge the same toward said combing member.

2. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying The shaft is rotated from the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged to permit shorts to fall therethrough, and a conveyor disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and'to forward the same to said combing member at a lower point.

3. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged to permit shorts to fall therethrough, said feeder comprising a plurality of carded rollers mounted for rotation in the same direction and so disposed that their carding intermeshes and prevents any appreciable quantity of tobacco, other than shorts, from falling through, and a conveyor disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and to forward the same to said combing member at a lower point.

4. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged to permit shorts to fall therethrough, said feeder comprising a plurality of carded rollers mounted for rotation in the same direction and so disposed that their carding intermeshes and prevents any appreciable quantity of tobacco, other than shorts, from falling through, the upper surfaces of said rollers being tangential to a plane inclined downwardly toward the combing member, and a vibrating conveyor disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and to urge the same toward said combing member.

5. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged to permit shorts to fall therethrough, and a vibrating support disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and to urge the same toward said combing member, said support being inclined downwardly toward said combing member and forming a portion of the bottom of the hopper.

6. In tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper, Aof a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, means including a carded feeder for moving the tobacco toward said combing member, said feeder being constructed and arranged -to permit shorts to fall therethrough, a vibrating conveyor disposed beneath said feeder to receive the shorts and to urge the same toward said combing member, and a shield disposed beneath and about the lower` portion of said combing member and extending into proximity with the discharge end of the vibrating conveyor for preventing escape of shorts from the latter.

FLIX FRDRIC RUAU. 

